


Deep Breaths

by Diabeticgirl4



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, Post-Episode: s02e04 Sock Opera, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-22
Updated: 2016-10-22
Packaged: 2018-08-23 20:49:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8342209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diabeticgirl4/pseuds/Diabeticgirl4
Summary: After the events of Sock Opera, Mabel still feels guilty about what happened to Dipper.





	

The combination of the lack of sleep plus the injuries he had received when Bill had overtaken his body left Dipper exhausted after Mabel’s play, and he nearly collapsed the second he and Mabel reunited with everyone in the crowd. He slept through Grunkle Stan carrying him to the car, and later into the Mystery Shack. He stayed asleep when Grunkle Stan brought out the dusty first aid kit to dress his wounds and bruises, and when Mabel fidgeted and mumbled vague answers to their great uncle’s questions. He stayed asleep when he was carried up the creaky stairs, and even when he was tucked into bed. He stayed asleep when Grunkle Stan quietly told Mabel to wake him if anything happened to Dipper before creaking down the stairs, and when Mabel whispered another apology before settling into bed.

He didn’t wake until what felt like hours later, although the room was still dark in the night. Dipper first registered the sound of light sniffling and shuddered breathing; next, a pounding headache and aching body. 

"M-Mabel?" Dipper groaned, still groggy from sleep and pain. 

The sniffling paused. Dipper reached blindly towards his desk, ignoring the protesting pain in his arms, fumbling around for several moments until he successfully managed to turn on the lantern. Mabel was sitting up in her bed, staring at Dipper with wide, teary eyes. As hard as she tried to conceal her appearance, she was still visibly shaking and she was choking back shallow, rapid breathing. 

"Mabel… are you okay? What’s going on?" Dipper sat himself up, best as he could with his body screaming at him in pain, and focused on Mabel. She said nothing in response, but bit her lip and hiccupped.

"Mabel, it’s ok-"

"N-no it’s n-not," came a small, barely audible response. Dipper paused.

"Wh-"

"Dipper, it’s not o-ok," Mabel interrupted, louder this time. "You c-could have…" she paused to take a deep, straggling breath. "You could have _d-died_ a-and it’s…. i-it’s all m-my f-fault..." Mabel sat there, dissolving into tears, chattering teeth, and shaky breaths. 

Dipper’s heart sank as he realized his sister- bubbly, overly cheerful Mabel- was having a panic attack.

"Hey Mabel, shhhhh, it’s ok," Dipper whispered. He knew how hard it was to calm down from an attack, but having a comforting sibling helped. 

"Mabel, we went over this earlier. It’s okay. I’m okay," although his throbbing head and aching body reminded him otherwise. "Err, I will be, anyways. But seriously, Mabel, listen to me. You stopped Bill and you saved me from being a sock puppet forever. It’s all over now. It’s okay."

"D-Dipper," Mabel whispered, looking away from her brother. She took several minutes to try to lessen her hyperventilating long enough to form coherent words. 

"I-I almost gave him your _journal_ , Dipper," she cried. "I almost did th-the one thing you told me n-not to do. I… I knew you were in trouble, and I still…. It’s n-not okay, Dipper, i-it’s _n-not_ ," she mumbled quietly through her tears.

Dipper stared at Mabel. It hurt him to see his sister like that.

"Deep breaths, Mabel. Deep breaths."

Mabel tried to inhale deeply, but only hiccupped instead. Tears continued to spill from her eyes. 

Dipper took a deep breath himself, ignoring the aching pains in his chest for the sake of his sister. "Like this, Mabel. In-" _inhale_ , "-and out," _exhale_. 

He continued taking deep breaths, and eventually Mabel was able to follow suit. While she had somewhat managed to calm down, she continued to tremble and hiccup every few moments. 

"Mabel," Dipper said softly, "none of this is your fault. If anything, it's all Bill's fault. He's good at tricking people, he got both of us. I mean, I said I'd never listen to Bill, but he still managed to turn me into a human puppet. But... I don't think that was my fault either. I mean, neither of us would be in this situation if I never shook his hand, but like I said,'" Dipper shrugged, "he's good at tricking people."

Dipper wanted to move to Mabel's bed to comfort her further, but his body was feeling heavy again with pain and sleep. He stifled a yawn, and he couldn't help but notice Mabel hide one too. 

"You gonna be alright, Mabel?"

Mabel looked at Dipper with a small smile. "Yeah, I think so. You sure you're gonna be ok?"

Dipper didn't respond immediately. "I should be. What did you end up telling Grunkle Stan?"

Mabel grinned sheepishly. "I told him you were so disillusioned from lack of sleep that you couldn't even walk straight and were falling over everything."

"...And the fighting? "

Mabel shrugged. "Everyone's cranky when they're tired.”

Both of them laughed. Mabel seemed to be feeling better; her face was still stained with tears, but at least she had her breathing more under control and she wasn't shaking anymore. 

Dipper yawned again, and took that as a cue to go back to sleep. He tried to find a comfortable position that didn't leave a part of him screaming in pain, but eventually he decided he was too tired to care. 

"Night Mabel, everything's ok now so you should get to sleep."

"I would, but I think I'm still hyped up on my Mabel Juice. Who knew plastic dinosaurs could be so caffeinated? But I'm all right now, you need the sleep more."

She snuggled into her blankets anyways, watching Dipper as he turned off the lantern and struggled to return to a comfortable sleeping position. 

"Oh, and Dipper?"

"Hmm?" came a groggy reply. 

"Thanks, bro."

Dipper was already too tired to make a coherent reply, but he smiled as he drifted back to sleep.


End file.
